Early Retirement Extreme Forums

I spent today with Animal's book. I've always enjoyed his journal and bought it as a show of support. The story wildly exceeded my expectations. The adventure itself is engaging, and he offers far more than a log of events. Life philosophy. Relationship arcs. Moments of suspense and doubt. Even prac...

I pulled the test from this podcast. Relevant quote: https://www.divergentpod.com/blog/ep-49 Like, you know, I've worked with folks who use their CAT-Q and that's that autistic masking measure. Like, if they're in the 150s or 160s, I don't even know if it gets that high. I have seen 150. It's like t...

A high score does not indicate autism. The test is used to inform diagnostic strategy, especially in adults. A high masker can fool standard criteria, maybe even unintentionally. But a person could be a high masker for many reasons.

I was having a realization that perhaps I've been nearly 100% conforming (masking) in ways that've been painful and uncomfortable I came across this masking survey, and it made me think of your exploration: https://embrace-autism.com/cat-q/ It'd be interesting to see what you score. Mine was a 156.

Interesting to hear you got away from the meds. They are something I've wondered about, but not pursued, due to the downsides you described. Starting with other tools felt more accessible. I too have found managing anxiety a cornerstone of working with neurodivergence. A key insight - once a support...

Depending how many days you're doing this, lack of fiber can become a problem. When I'd travel for work, I'd grab a can of chili with a pull tab. It's not great cold, but it's fast to eat and effective.

Did you have trouble finding a consulting gig, and does this pay pretty well still? This fell into my lap, talking to a long time friend and coworker. I'm an expert on their systems and business, and have known most of the leadership team for 10+ years. Pay is not even a secondary goal here, but I'...

No insult intended. I saw my therapist yesterday. Among my generation in the US, I know far more people who've worked with a therapist, than have not. Admittedly, that level of access is also a sign of privilege in my social circle. Mental healthcare sometimes benefits from external support. It's li...

In total, I spent about $1200 on supports for my neurodivergence. Expressing and meeting my needs, works so much better than white knuckling life. Essentially, I'm paying to reduce demands on executive function, bypass limited working memory, and provide sensory blockers/relief. It's very much a non...

Those scores look much better. Congrats. I hope you are wrong about the labs being skewed. That is not a variable I want to control for. It makes more sense that taking your body out of ketosis and removing saturated fats, changed your blood lipids. Those are dramatic dietary shifts. I've never hear...

Do you have access to mental health support, like a therapist? Your problems sound bigger than the job. Help with those might provide clarity around work.

This question is a class check, to see if we'll peer. So I answer accordingly. Default: "I'm not working right now." For anyone living paycheck to paycheck, this tends to end the conversation and raise some empathy. If someone's life is their job: "but most recently I was in IT as an ...

Maybe I'm naive in seeing that volatility as a proxy for risk. I certainly haven't found returns like that, ever. Any assets that reduce the volatility would appeal to me. Gold. Land. Bonds. Whatever might be less correlated to the movement of crypto. Not to say any of those are superior assets, onl...

Is there a point where you de-risk the portfolio and declare victory? 2 million looks like enough money.

@oku - Above, you indicate no desire to renew the contract. My advice assumes this holds true, and you are taking the opportunity to practice. IE - walking away with nothing is your default result. So the question here is, can you find more upside? The only way to know, is to negotiate for it. With ...

You're mixing a few things: 1. Working 24/7 - this has little to do with pay. It's related to boundary setting and workplace culture. I agree, it is a losing game. 2. Political savvy - this has everything to do with pay. It's the highest return on effort you'll find. If you want to do less, this is ...

It hasn’t been a happy month. I’ve been hesitating to negotiate my salary, fearing they might increase my workload, when I actually want to do less, not more. Do the people who earn more than you, work harder? At what level does that start happening? In my own career, I saw little correlation with ...

It really, really seems like most of my issues actually can be solved or greatly improved by just.... spending money? Try it. Allocate a budget to spend $XX(X?) more per week / month. Hold yourself accountable to reaching it. See if life's better. This removes the uncertainty around can/should I af...

I know two autistic young men who have experienced incredible improvements when they worked specifically on theory-of-mind strengthening techniques, so we could argue the degree to which these are fixed They may have experienced developmental delay, because their brains are wired to learn different...

I'm with you on integrating all sustainable lifestyle changes, before pulling the statin lever. Unless there's an acute risk (ie uncontrolled diabetes + high cholesterol), build the strong foundation first. Don't bury your most useful metric with a drug. Use it to learn. Backing off ketosis looks li...